


Confidence

by sublimeWaves



Series: 25 EXO Challenges [12]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Anxiety, M/M, Promiscuity, nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 02:33:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10777641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sublimeWaves/pseuds/sublimeWaves
Summary: “I was going to sleep with your roommate but I wouldn’t mind you.”





	Confidence

**Author's Note:**

> Emotion: Anxiety   
> Word: Surprise  
> Theme: Isolation

Kyungsoo has a nice life.  He was at a great college for computer science which was good because he has enjoyed programming since middle school.  On top of his rigorous schedule he has always taken time to amuse himself with various side projects just because the world needed a Skyrim mod to simulate a war against a raging group of skeletons.

It had been this way since middle school.  He went to school and the library and the grocery store and Taco Bell and kept to himself.  He didn’t talk to anyone during lecture and only did the bare minimum of contact during group projects but nothing further.  He preferred it this way.  No one to bother him on his side projects or his precious time dicking around on the internet.

His parents often would call him to tell him he may just want to be a bit more like his older brother.  The same older brother who had ‘enjoyed the college experience’ by getting drunk or high ever night and never showing up to any classes or tests.  He had made the change from mechanical engineering to business to history with backing from their parents.  Had to salvage his grades somehow.  Kyungsoo does not think he needs to be like his older brother.  But after a while of his parents not letting the subject go, Kyungsoo has friends but only when his parents call.

He does technically have one ‘friend’ that is not his guild mates online (whom he absolutely loves most of the time and hate when they don’t fucking revive him).  His roommate, Jongin, who he yells at a lot for not doing his part of the roommate contract.  Jongin was a flirty, lazy freshman who barely cleaned and like to go to parties and come back so drunk that he would mess the whole apartment up just because he thinks it’s hilarious.

There was also the people that Jongin brought home.

There were a lot and Kyungsoo loathed the man because of it.  The gross noises, the girls moaning like a porno, the men trying to sound manly, it drove Kyungsoo to anger every single time.  They were all so fake and pathetic.  It had gotten worst in the past few weeks as Jongin won some competition at his fraternity and now everyone wanted a piece of him.

It’s a man this time that is being shoved against the doorway to Jongin’s room.  He laughs, a nice laugh if Kyungsoo is being honest, that falls onto Jongin’s bed with a thud.  Kyungsoo curses these thin walls as he puts in his headphones and pauses Nichijou and opens his anime folder.  He clicks on Psycho Pass Season 1 quickly, the first one that he thinks could drown out the noise.  At this point, he needs to come up with an emergency folder.  The thought comes up again as he realizes he forgot the first two minutes of this anime had a copious amount of dialogue and quiet moments.

Kyungsoo is forced to hear the moans coming out of this new guy.  They are soft and breathy and seem to come out of his lower register.  After hearing Kyungsoo’s partners, he realizes quickly that this guy was not trying to impress Jongin with fake moaning but just trying to enjoy the moment, different than anybody else Kyungsoo has heard through the wall.  He finds a more suitable thing to watch, RedLine with its loud bass thumping backing soundtrack, but cannot seem to turn it on.  That is, until Jongin’s moans start to join in and makes Kyungsoo click the file within half a second.

Suddenly they stop and Kyungsoo can hear one (or two, he doesn’t know) go into the bathroom.  The main event has not even happened and Kyungsoo is going to cry if anyone throws up in their bathroom again that he must clean up.  No one ever, even Jongin, cleaned up after themselves other than Jongin’s best friend Sehun, who based off that fact alone is one of Kyungsoo’s favorite people.  He doesn’t have much time to think about that as someone is opening his door and Kyungsoo looks to see who the intruder is.

A naked man leans confidently on his door frame with a curious look on his face.

He doesn’t say anything and Kyungsoo is too shocked to do anything except look at the beautiful man in front of him because Kyungsoo thinks he is quite nice to look at.  Works out a bit if the faint lines of abs are anything to go by.  Those legs are nice, thighs better and cute face.  He has a good cock but Kyungsoo doesn’t allow himself to look at it.  He’s got sweat on his forehead that plasters his obviously dyed blonde hair down.

Kyungsoo stares, taking in the scene, waiting for the man to close the door in embarrassment or do anything because right now Kyungsoo feels like he is in a different reality.

“Jongin didn’t tell me he had a roommate,” the guy says which pulls the shell shocked Kyungsoo out of his stupor.  He pulls off his headphones to hear him better and quickly looks away, face red, as he realizes that he has been not even staring but ogling some fucking stranger.

“Sorry,” he mutters as an apology.

“For what?”  The guy asks, genuinely surprised at the other’s reaction.  It takes a second before a little lightbulb goes off and he looks down and motions to his dick.  A smug smile appears on his face.  “This?  Don’t worry, I like to be admired.”

Kyungsoo focuses on his screen and not at the cute naked boy in the doorway.  If he was being completely honest, Kyungsoo has never seen a naked body in his life other than Jongin (drunkenly covered in vomit) and his brother (gross) in person.  He watched porn just like every other online anime gamer geek who drank Mountain Dew and ate Doritos (but did shower regularly so he defied the stereotype to a small degree) who knew they were probably going to die alone without ever getting off with another person.

“You’re really cute,” the guy says and Kyungsoo’s eyes widen.  “I was going to fuck to your roommate, but I wouldn’t mind giving you a try.”

Kyungsoo tries and pretends he didn’t just hear that sentence as his face burns.  If he thought about it too much, then he might have a mini panic attack.  The guy strides in like he owns the place, admiring the posters on the wall and the multitude of electrical wires from Kyungsoo’s side projects lying on the ground.  He almost steps on a circuit board and Kyungsoo cringes.  It was big and ugly but it was his first from back in middle school and he was overly fond of it.  The guy sits down on the somewhat lofted bed next to Kyungsoo and smiles at him as he sits about a foot away from Kyungsoo’s desk.  He points to one of Kyungsoo’s side projects on the ground.  “What are you doing with that?”

“Shouldn’t you go back to Jongin?”  There is a strain in Kyungsoo’s voice as he tries to keep some modesty in the room and keep himself from completely panicking.  The other boy doesn’t laugh, he _giggles_ , high pitched, the exact opposite of his moans.  “I’ve got some time.  So, tell me what this thing is.”

It’s a desktop CPU that Kyungsoo is gutting out to not only build a better computer, but also blink different colors.  Kyungsoo starts to talk for no other fact than that it means that he doesn’t have to look at the nicely exposed man in front of him.  Instead, he talks to his project to welcoming ears and almost gets lost in it.  This does not mean the man is a passive listener, he actively makes Kyungsoo explain things and to go over the lights in detail, not seeming able to keep quiet for more than two minutes at a time.

After a bit, the guy sits with his knees, up, a half-hearted attempt at modesty, which Kyungsoo appreciates.  He asks if Kyungsoo can make a CPU with the Overwatch logo being illuminated.  Kyungsoo nods and brings up pictures on his computer of what other people have done. 

The guy is enraptured like a child soaking up information and Kyungsoo is ready to share, even smiling every so often.  He is one of those people who is easy to talk to and there is never a lull in the conversation.  The man straights when he realizes that two hours have passed as if it had been ten minutes.

“My roommate is going to be worried as hell,” the man says as he jumps up and goes to put on his clothes as Kyungsoo goes into the hall.  Jongin has passed out in the bathtub yet again.  He walks to man to the doorway of his dorm when the man suddenly turns around.  The man’s lips on his cheek burns.  “Call me.”

Something in Kyungsoo heats up as he watches the cute boy go.  It doesn’t last long before he remembers Jongin and puts him to bed as he reminisces about his crazy night.  On his desk is a small piece of paper with a number and a name: Baekhyun.

-.-

Kyungsoo does not call him, the thought of calling anyone makes him feel a bit light in the head, even though he thoroughly enjoyed the conversation that he had with Baekhyun.  He’s never truly had a friend other than Jongin that did not exist online hidden behind a crazy username.  If he was being honest, then he would say that he was a bit scared of that changing.  So, he doesn’t start now.  He continues to go to lectures and labs and the library and the grocery store and Taco Bell and his dorm for about two weeks before it happens.

During that time, he thinks about the conversation constantly.  A deviation from his routine was bound to make an impact on him.  This was a mistake.  Kyungsoo goes through each moment and questions it, probes it, picks it apart with the eye of a critic.  How bored was Baekhyun when they talked?  The phone number _must_ have been out of pity.  Why else would someone who could land Jongin talk to him?  Each thought built up a wall of anxiety within himself.

Best to forget about the whole incident.

It is Thursday night, Friday morning if you were being technical, at one in the morning.  Kyungsoo feels dead inside as he looks at his notes for signals.  There are students everywhere still studying and he still hasn’t moved from the group section of the library, designed for groups to be able to meet up and talk.  For the first time in a while, he could snag a booth which are most coveted by the student body.  The most comfortable places to sit on campus and Kyungsoo was enjoying it immensely.

He doesn’t know why because the traditional loud group of kids playing League of Legends are sitting next to him hogging up the Wi-Fi.  He stares at the screens when he is bored is tired of looking at his notes.  Suddenly, there is movement on the other side of his booth.  It was rude to just sit and not ask to sit somewhere when it came to booths.  About to tell the person off, Kyungsoo freezes.

It was Baekhyun, freshly dyed red hair billowing from his face.  The hair made his cheeks seem puffier, younger.  He was wearing clothes this time, black jeans and a shirt with some sort of band on it.  His face looked cute and not as hot as when Kyungsoo had seem him last, which Kyungsoo was quite thankful for.  It still surprised him as he watched the carefree boy settle in, putting his backpack next to him as he made himself cozy.  After he is finished settling in, he stares at Kyungsoo with a smile.  He rests his elbows on the table and does a small wave.  “You never called me.”

Straight to the point and Kyungsoo is slow on the uptake, wanting to run.  No one was supposed to bother him right now and he did not do well with surprises as he stares like a deer in the headlights.  The silence prompts Baekhyun leaning across the table and waving a hand in Kyungsoo’s face.  This broke Kyungsoo out of himself as he leans back swats at the intrusion.

“Stop that!”

The boy puts his bottom lip out and pouts.  Kyungsoo assumes this is how the man gets whatever he wants because he looks positively adorable.  Unfortunately, Kyungsoo has seen too many cute things in his life on the internet to be affected by such things.  What does affect him is the all the attention that the boy is putting on him.  His shyness is coming on full force as he lifts his notes at an angle to hide a bit of his face and wishing with all his might that Baekhyun will get bored and look away and maybe leave him alone.

Realizing Kyungsoo’s not going to respond to his question after a few seconds, Baekhyun hangs his head in defeat.  He tilts his head as he leans forward and stares at the table.  “I keep thinking about that Saturday and how much I liked talking to you.  I thought you liked talking to me.  Maybe I was wrong.”  There is a hint of what Kyungsoo thinks may be disappointment.  He looks up to Kyungsoo.  “I thought you would call.”

The air feels think around Kyungsoo that fills his lungs and it is getting to a point in which he cannot handle.  The boy scans him over with a judging eye which flusters Kyungsoo the most.  Self-conscious, he runs his hand through his hair to alleviate his nerves and to pull his notes, that he has in a tight grip, a bit higher.  He hopes his cheeks aren’t flushed pink but he knows his hopes are too high as his body loves to take every single opportunity given to embarrass him.  On the other hand, Baekhyun appears to be the definition of an ice cube with a calming aura and a nice body.  Kyungsoo wonders how often the other doubts his looks.

“Why are you so red?”  Baekhyun asks before a small smile forms on his lips.  Kyungsoo wonders how on earth he had held a conversation with this guy.  “Am I that hard to talk to?”

Before Kyungsoo’s word can be blocked by that high mental wall of anxiety, he lets a whisper slip out.  “A bit.”

The boy across from him giggles before raising one of his eyebrows in surprise.  High, just like his moans his brain remembers at the worst possible moment.  “Jongin told me you were shy but he didn’t tell me this much.”

“You asked about me?”  Kyungsoo could not understand why someone would take their time to get to know boring him when Baekhyun was _Baekhyun_ : The boy who talks to shy boys while naked and supposed to be banging their hot as fuck and infinitely more interesting roommate.

“It came up,” Baekhyun says quickly.  It is his turn to feel a bit embarrassed but he handles it well enough.  “We’ve got a lot in common.  Like I said, I liked talking to you.”

The small smile turns smug as an idea pops into his head and he leans back into the booth, closer to the ears of the League of Legends Players.  It reveals his chest and thighs and Kyungsoo is king of thankful his face is already red because the thought of Baekhyun’s naked thighs would be much harder to explain.

“Is this because I walked around your room naked?”  Baekhyun asks a little too loudly.  “I mean I know I look good and I know people like to look at me.  Sometimes it can be a shock to others but you have had the most extreme reaction to it.  Everyone else seems quite appreciative.  Jongdae doesn’t like it that much but he just has the most prudish stick up his ass boyfriend that I have ever met.  I hope he dumps him.  Oh, am I rambling?” 

Kyungsoo can feel the eyes on him now and he cannot help but feel mortified.  The turning motion of heads of the players in the next booth has Kyungsoo’s face falling on the table.  Anxiety runs through him as he catches a small glimpse of the man across from him. 

There is no shame. 

There is no shame and Baekhyun keeps _going_.

“Or is It because I almost banged in the room next to you?  Look, me and Jongin are just friends and my friend who I usually hook up with got a girlfriend and I was looking for something.  Not that I am a sex addict or anything.  I just like what I like.  Was I too loud?  Because I know I can get a bit up there and Chanyeol tells me that they are annoying as fuck but I think they’re pretty much a huge turn on.  I mean I know I’m good-”

In one fluid motion, Kyungsoo grabs his backpack with one hand and his notes with the other and runs.  He doesn’t hear Baekhyun’s shouts over his thoughts of the number of people staring as he sprints down the stairs, causing more attention.  He heads to the basement floor where there is barely ever any people and unsurprisingly empty.  The multimedia lab is down the hall, but to the right and seems to be a hidden gem amongst the student population.  Kyungsoo goes left as he turns to a small alcove behind the stairs and stops.  He likes to eat lunch down here sometimes when he can’t get back to his dorm between classes and studying.  It’s quiet and people don’t have to look at him when he is eating.

He collapses into the alcove.  Not being the most athletic guy in the world, or barely moving at all from his computer chair, he is out of breath.  Seconds later he hears footsteps coming down the steps and Kyungsoo curses.  Barreling down the stairs, Baekhyun is loud as he wonders into the basement level.  Kyungsoo hopes he doesn’t notice him and passes by to the multimedia lab.

“There you are!”  Baekhyun’s booming voice exclaims as he appears.  His hair is disheveled and it bounces when he runs his hair through it as he takes a seat on the ground next to Kyungsoo.  He’s close enough to touch in the small alcove.  Unlike Kyungsoo, Baekhyun is athletic and looks barely winded and hot when he runs.  Kyungsoo probably looks like he just took an arduous swim in the garbage.  “Why did you run?”

Kyungsoo feels a lot better now that they are alone and feels the words coming easier to him.  If only his burning lungs weren’t getting in the way.  “You’re… too loud.  People… were… staring.”

“Are you embarrassed?”  Baekhyun asks incredulously.  His eyes are wide and has his mouth open in awe.  He was just like an open book.  That was good, because Kyungsoo could not talk to someone who wasn’t with his lack of people skills.  He was even failing at this.  “But no one was looking at us.  Even if they were, they don’t really matter.”

“How could you not be embarrassed?”  Kyungsoo asks.

A sigh, long and trouble, unlike anything Kyungsoo has seen out of the confident man, but it was quickly put away.  “I got over that a long time ago.  It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

Baekhyun slaps his knee like he just remembered something.  “I just remembered why I had even gone over to you in the first place.  You want to go to my place and play Overwatch?”

Kyungsoo blinks up at the boy in front of him.  He could not believe that Baekhyun had just not only done a 180 from sullen to cheerful but was also inviting him to do something.  Even after that big show, Baekhyun was still following him.  Baekhyun wanted to talk to him some more.  He was reaching out to some weird nerd boy who looks like shit and ran away from him.  The anxious wall in Kyungsoo’s mind melts a bit. 

He must be a persistent idiot.

He liked it.

He also likes Overwatch.

“Okay.”

-.-

Kyungsoo’s world doesn’t change that much after having a friend.  Just a new activity in his weekly routine to remember to go do.  They watched anime or movies or played games on Sunday nights at Baekhyun’s dorm.  Jongin would wiggle his eyebrows at Kyungsoo before he left which only got a pillow thrown at him.  Other than that, not much changed, at least he thinks so.

He meet’s Baekhyun’s roommate.  Baekhyun’s best friend was the loudest man Kyungsoo has ever known and Kyungsoo didn’t think that was possible after Baekhyun.  Just like Baekhyun, he was gorgeous, unlike Baekhyun he was tall as fuck.  Kyungsoo felt tiny next to him. 

He worked at the school’s radio at night moonlighting as ‘DJ Chan your on-campus Romeo’.  Kyungsoo listened for all of five minutes with Baekhyun’s crackling next to him. When he was around during the first hour Kyungsoo would arrive to the dorm before he went to work, he would spill about Baekhyun’s conquests to try and get a rise out of Baekhyun, it always worked.  But then, he would go to work.  So, Sundays belonged to just Kyungsoo and Baekhyun and the nasty old couch they sat on.

Baekhyun seemed to tone down all things in the sexual department after noticing that it embarrassed Kyungsoo to no end.  If toned down meant wearing clothes and changing absolutely nothing else.  The man liked partying and sex and being loud and confident. He liked to talk and had a lot of friends and a lot of people he had sex with.  His favorite pass time was telling Kyungsoo about his last conquests.  Kyungsoo would see him around campus sometimes with a lot of random people always having a good time.  It must be the aura of confidence he gave off that was so alluring to so many people.

There was also another side of Baekhyun, times where he lulled and was quieter than before.  During these time, he talked more frank about people he hated in a low voice or would just lean on Kyungsoo.  He loved to touch people and Kyungsoo was a person and therefore qualified.  It took weeks before he was comfortable with the small leans and head laying on his shoulder.  This side also brought a change of humor, fascinated with dry, dark humor.  Kyungsoo readily indulged in that part with him.

Baekhyun was special as he was extremely persistent which Kyungsoo admired in him.  Always had his eyes on a goal.  Whether it be killing an enemy player or nagging Kyungsoo for being a ‘loner’.  There were also the endless comments to get Kyungsoo to get over his shyness which Kyungsoo never fell for.  It was no wonder that Baekhyun always played sniper.

Kyungsoo kept to himself during class but there was no stopping the mundane conversations happening all around him.  They all had so much to talk about and took every opportunity to do so.  The more he thought about it, he realized Baekhyun was one of those people who would blabber during a lecture.  During one lecture, he could not help but eavesdrop as he overheard Baekhyun’s name.  The two boys in front of him sat bored with the droning economics professors voice and near the back so that they could talk.  One had a deep voice and one had a high voice.

“At a party?”  The high voiced kid questions.

“I almost didn’t recognize him.  Dyed his hair and everything,” the deep voice guy lazily gossips.  He speaks so slow that he almost loses Kyungsoo at one point.  He realizes that they are high quite quickly.  “Picked up a pretty nice looking chick to go home with.”

There is a pause.  “We’re talking about Bumbling Byun Baekhyun, right?”

“Yep,” there is a pop of the lips that is loud enough for the girl next to Kyungsoo to take notice and glare at the two boys.  “Doesn’t even have the glasses anymore.”

“I thought he would drop out of society and work at like a gas station or something.”

“Sounds right.”

They start to talk about a girl when Kyungsoo turns away, absorbing this new information.  Was Baekhyun like him at one point?  Was Baekhyun talking to him because no one talked to him when he was like Kyungsoo?  Did he even like Kyungsoo as a person or just out of pity?

Being with Baekhyun seems to easy Kyungsoo out of his anxiety, so Kyungsoo puts the information on the backburner and tries not to think of it.  It’s not like Kyungsoo can rely on himself to bring up any topic smoothly without making it a big deal.

Instead, Chanyeol’s radio show gets pushed back for an hour and spends more time with Kyungsoo and Baekhyun.  Kyungsoo realizes the man is a music geek with a body built like an athlete.  He likes to tease Baekhyun to hell and back and it doesn’t take long until Kyungsoo has three friends, a record for him.  His guild mates congratulate him.

Chanyeol is loosed lipped and free, just like Baekhyun, and it doesn’t take long to realize that the two have spent a few nights together.  Chanyeol talks about some girl he had a spat with and says, “she said she couldn’t handle my dick.”

Baekhyun laughs and stage whispers to Kyungsoo, “it’s because she’s sober.  Chanyeol’s dick is great but only blackout drunk so you can forget who it is attached to.”  Kyungsoo just nods at the frankness but a tint of something in him is bothered.  He wonders if Chanyeol knows about Bumbling Byun Baekhyun.  Chanyeol goes to work and him and Baekhyun watch the extended (the only way to watch it) third Lord of the Rings movie.

“You got quiet again when Chanyeol talked earlier,” Baekhyun comments.  Kyungsoo fidgets.  “Do you not like Chanyeol?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kyungsoo knows he tenses sometimes but it’s not because he doesn’t like Chanyeol.  He does.  Who else is he going to talk music with?  Baekhyun watches him curiously and Kyungsoo’s cheeks flare up at the attention again as he tries to watch the screen.

He makes the mistake of looking back.  Baekhyun kisses him, small and fleeting, before burrowing his face into Kyungsoo’s shoulder like he normally does.  Nerves and anxiety shoots out through his belly and into his body as he goes still.  Baekhyun plays with Kyungsoo’s shirt, twirling it a bit before letting it go and repeating the process.  A couple of moments pass.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” Baekhyun says in a comforting tone.  It does little to soothe Kyungsoo.  He fidgets with his pant loops so violently that Baekhyun is forced to physically stop him with a small glide of his fingers over Kyungsoo’s.  “Or it can, if you want to.”

Kyungsoo is not a bold person in any sense, so pulling back to put his lips to Baekhyun’s cheek while holding his hand is as good as it gets now.

Baekhyun tackles him with a hug into the couch in response.

They go mostly exclusive.  Most of the time, it is as if nothing changed except that Baekhyun seeks him out after class outside the confines of Baekhyun’s dorm.  They hold hands sometimes alone and Kyungsoo wants (needs) to go slow and Baekhyun says he knows what he is getting into.  He leans all over him instead, pushing the limits as best as he can.  Soft, warm puffs on Kyungsoo’s lips from only an inch away.

Baekhyun also stops being a complete sleaze.  Although, he still goes out to parties and Kyungsoo knows how Baekhyun is when he is drunk.  Once, during drunk Mario Kart with the only participant being him, he had danced in an inappropriate manner on the table after winning the last round.  Kyungsoo made sure he recorded it.  Even so, Baekhyun admits to sleeping with Chanyeol when drunk after a party one night.  The feelings of jealousy never came and Kyungsoo kind of shrugged it off after realizing he didn’t mind if it was someone he knew.

Sometimes, during economics, Baekhyun will text Kyungsoo that he is waiting by the small vending machine alcove outside his class.  He gets out early of lecture and Kyungsoo hurries to copy down the last notes as the professor dismisses class.  As soon as he is done packing up, he walks out of the classroom, most of the kids having left at this point.

The two kids from his economics class seemed to be looking for the vending machines when they spot Baekhyun standing there.  High and low voice are tall, but scrawny. They seemed surprised to see Baekhyun there.  For some reason, Kyungsoo can’t seem to walk towards Baekhyun and just watches from the doorway of the alcove.

“It really is you, wow!  Who would have though?”  High voice laughs in this high-pitched giggle that hurts Kyungsoo’s ears.  Baekhyun does not seem amused at all.  His eyebrow is arched and his voice flat and unlively.

“I didn’t think I would ever have to see you two goons,” he says, arms crossing over his chest.  Impatience creeps into his voice.  The two kids laugh.  Low voice is a tad bit better, sounding like a rolling bass drum that keeps hitting rocks on the way down a hill.

“Goons!”  Low voice exclaims between bouts of laughter.  “Who even says that?”

High voice slaps Low voice’s shoulder as he tries to stop himself from doubling over again.  “Classic Bumbling Byun Baekhyun.”

“You two haven’t changed much, have you?”

High voice smirks a bit at that.  “Other than the hair I don’t think you have either.”

Even sounding unimpressed, Baekhyun’s confidence saves him as he rolls his eyes at the nuisance of these two boys and starts to walk pass the boys.  “Well, this has been _such_ a stimulating conversation, I need to get going.”

“See, I hear different,” Low voice’s smugness stops Baekhyun from going anywhere.  “Heard you will get on your knees for any guy that comes knocking.”

It was the confidence draining from Baekhyun’s face that got Kyungsoo.  The man oozed charismatic charm and stomped out insecurity and doubt, even Kyungsoo’s when he needed it.  If there was a time to step in, Kyungsoo knew he needed to do it now.  All he needed to do was open his mouth.

But he couldn’t.

His legs had managed to work to get him to walk towards the group but he found himself frozen after that.  Dry air passed through his lungs as his eyes met Baekhyun’s widened ones.  Instead of the disappointment that Kyungsoo expected to see, he sees a fire being kindled.  Baekhyun steps towards Kyungsoo away from the two boys and takes the shorter man by the elbow before turning back to the boys with a smile.

“Just because you can’t get some doesn’t mean you must be so rude about it,” Baekhyun retorts.  Low voice seems taken aback that Baekhyun would ever act this way.

“As if,” the guy says defensively.

“You can’t be a slut if you hang out with the silent geek boy,” High voice gestures to Kyungsoo who is still frozen from the sudden change of moods in the room.  “You haven’t changed.”

“Neither have you,” Baekhyun says as he pulls Kyungsoo with him to leave.  “Just two big fish from a very small pond.”

As soon as they walk away, Baekhyun’s hand slips into his as they walk back to the dorms.  It’s the first time they have held hands in public, but Kyungsoo knows Baekhyun kind of needs the support and he kind of does too right now.  The usually cheery boy is quiet the whole way back and does not seem to be up for talking.  The whole walk has Kyungsoo beating himself up for not helping more.  For not telling those guys off like he should have.  For not being there for Baekhyun, his _boyfriend_.

Baekhyun continues his silence as he still on the small stiff couch with Kyungsoo next to him.  It doesn’t take long for him to find a position curling around Kyungsoo, head on his chest.  After an uncomfortable minute, he gets his phone out and gives it to Kyungsoo without looking at him.

The picture is of a teenager with shaggy black hair and big wired glasses with an overgrown shirt and worn out jeans.  It looked like a kid dressed from a dumpster used by both a shop from the eighties and a shop selling grunge wear.  Scrawny, small, an obvious ‘weak’ boy if he ever saw one.  It was the classic geeky emo kid you see in those movies.  Kyungsoo would know.  He was one during high school.  Now he is just a quiet geek.

Underneath all the hair is a pair of familiar eyes and a smile Kyungsoo recognizes immediately.  It’s the smile and eyes of that quiet side of Baekhyun, not the one with the overwhelming confidence.  For some reason, Kyungsoo finds himself debating in his head which one he likes better.

“You’re wearing a Call of Duty shirt,” Kyungsoo says finally after the long silence.  In response, Baekhyun nods against Kyungsoo’s chest.  “You look like a tool.”

Kyungsoo can feel Baekhyun smiling against his shirt before he is hearing the laughter that has him sitting straight up and looking to Kyungsoo.  His eyes soften for a bit when he done. “When I was in grade school I was shy and had no friends.  I wore baggy clothes and kept to myself and was the biggest geek that I knew.  It was a small school, so everyone knew everyone and everyone knew how much of a loser I was.”

A deep breath as Baekhyun sinks into the ratty couch.  “When I got to college, this huge campus, I kind of went wild and changed everything that I was.  The crazy thing is that it worked.  I had friends who liked me and I wasn’t alone as much.  The best part was that I found people who were great people and nothing like the people back at home.  So, I felt better about myself and I like who I am now.  But, sometimes, I feel like that kid from grade school and I just want to play League until six in the morning.”

“You played League until six in the morning two weeks ago,” Kyungsoo points out.  Before Baekhyun can sputter out an excuse about how he was drunk, Kyungsoo takes his hand and speaks up.  “You were me.”

“I was worse,” Baekhyun admits as he looks to the ceiling as if remembering something embarrassing and cringing at his thoughts.  “I was also annoying as shit.”

“Is that why you talked to me?”

“Partly.”  Baekhyun intertwines their hands as he continues to look up at the ceiling.  “You talked about your hobbies, my old hobbies, with such fascination.  I had forgotten how much I had loved them and you reminded me of that.”  He smiles at Kyungsoo.  “You’re also just really cute.”

“Thanks.”

Baekhyun chuckles as he tries to open his eyes wider and ends up looking scary.  “Whenever you need me to compliment your eyes, just tell me.”

“I meant talking to me.”

Another chuckle.  “Well, I was like your savior and all from loneliness and all.  You _should_ be thanking me all the time.”

Kyungsoo shoves him in retaliation but ends up being shoved harder and then tackled into a hug.  It had been a couple of months since he had met the strange, touchy feely boy and yet he could never seem to get used to the clinginess.  “Thanks to you too, for today I mean.”

That couldn’t be right.  “All I did was stand there.”

Baekhyun lies next to him on the couch and he is so close that Kyungsoo can kind of feel his breath and the closeness scares him a bit.  “You tried.  I know you wouldn’t have even walked towards me a month ago.  You will get there one day, just like I did.”

Kyungsoo thinks about how just being in close proximity to his boyfriend is giving him anxiety.  “It’s slow going.”

In this position, Baekhyun tries to stare at Kyungsoo’s chest instead of his eyes.  “My first college party I talked about wave dashing stats between Luigi and Squirtle.”

Kyungsoo felt like he could laugh forever as he curled up so that he was laughing into Baekhyun’s chest, anxiety forgotten.  The image of teenaged Baekhyun (the only one he had) of trying to get some hot chick hot and bothered with Smash stats was a little too much for him now.  Baekhyun was telling him to shut up, clearly embarrassed as the red spread over his cheeks slightly.  It was a good look on him.  As, the tremors subsided Kyungsoo looked up.  “How did you get anyone?”

“I had a guy who kind of changed my world my first semester before he graduated,” Baekhyun admits.  “Took me under his wing.  He loved to experiment and you couldn’t be shy with what you wanted or how things would go down.  Not a monogamous person by any means, he had a lot of ‘side projects’ as he would say.  He took everything so slow and it was okay if nothing happened at all.  It wasn’t like I had failed.”

“You do that with me,” Kyungsoo says as he looks up to Baekhyun. 

He doesn’t have to think before he is kissing Baekhyun and his mind doesn’t tell him that he is bad and should pull back.  He just lets Baekhyun pull him closer.

**Author's Note:**

> If the guy at the desk next to me in the library can have phone sex at one in the morning during finals week, Baekhyun can gossip loudly about sex all he wants.


End file.
